Hydrogenating gas generating apparatus



FbQ-Z 1934. M J.TRUMBLE E'r AL 1,948,808

I HYDROGENATING GAS GENERATINQ' APPARATUS Filed Dec. 15, 195ol INVENTOR. 7kg/mns .flee- LEY A TTORNE YS.

the apparatus.

Patented Feb. 27, 1934 UNITED STATES HYDRO GENATING GAS GENEBATING APPARATUS Milonv J. Tumble, Alhambra, and William L.

Seeley, Los Angeles,

Calif.. assis-nora to Processeo, Limited, San Francisco, Calif., a corporation oi' Nevada Application December 13, 1936i Serial N0. 502,144

5 Claims. (Cl. vlis-75) lIl his invention relates to the hydrogenation 0I petroleum oils in the production of lighter fractions and refers particularly toone'of the apparatus units in a continuous process of hydrogenatlon.

The objects of the invention are to provide apparatus which will continuously separate the lighter oil from carbonaceous matter in sludge oil for continuous return to a cyclic hydrogenation system of `which the present apparatus is a part, while continually treating the carbonaceous matter with superheated steam at high tempera.- ture for dissociation into gases for recycling with the oil.

Other objects of the invention will appear in the following description and accompanying drawing. v

ln the drawing Fig. l is a vertical section ,of

Fig. 2 is a cross section of Fig. 1 taken along the line 2--2 of Fig. l.

In further detail the apparatus comprises a vertical steel cylinder F flanged at its lower end at 2 and'bolted to a heavy steel base 3 the interior of which base is bowl-shaped vand provided with a steam inlet passage or pipe 4 tted with an upwardly directed distributing nozzle 5 spaced above which is an inverted bowl-shapedpee'rforated bridge 6 preferably of refractory marial.

Above the bridge piece 6 and extending across the cylinder at spaced intervals are circular metal screens 'i each resting on its edge on angle irons 13 secured to the wall of the cylinder and each provided with a central aperture surrounded by a circular wall 'l' projecting. both above and below the screen. while at the side of the cylinder is a removable door or plate 10 through which the screens are accessible either for removal or for the renewal of layers of catalytic material thereon.

spaced above the topmost screen is a conical partition l1 4weldedl to the cylinder and which provides a chamber above for oil 12 from hydrogenating or cracking stills to enter through a pipe 35 for settling oi its heavier constituents into the lower end of the cone 11j-for continual feeding of said constitutents through a rotary feeder having four vanes 14 operating in a circular housing 15 bolted at 16 to the outwardly flanged lower edge oi cone 11'.

In cross section the rotary vfeeder housing 15 is square as shown in Fig. 2, though the cone 11 above it would gradually change its form 4to round where it meets the cylinder walls. The

feeder housing is also split or parted along its vertical center line at X to'permit close machining and tting of the feeder, the two halves of the housing being held together with bolts n or rivets 17.

The lower end of feeder housing is open and provided with a steam injection passage or pipe 18 so that if the sludge 12 will not drop freely as the feeder revolves, a light continuous blast of superheated steam will' cut it loose and drop g5 it in a stream through the large central openings in screens 7 to the reaction bowl in base 3 Where a constant blast of superheated steam from supply pipe 56 at about 1400 F. is^main tained. l

The depth of the oil l2 in the oil chamber is limited by an overflow pipe 20 which carries the overiiow to a float tank 2l of any conven- 'lll . tional design for automatically starting and feeding a pump Z2 in the manner well understood 75 and' not detailed as not involving anything new. The oil from the pump is forced back through pipe 8 for recycling in the hydrogenating system mentioned. e

At a relatively short distance above'the oil 90 level the cylinder is outwardly flanged and closed `by a head 22'above which, and if desired-held by the same marginal bolts 23,is a gas -compertinent 24 connected to the spacein the lower compartment by a pipe' 25, while withinthe gas g5 compartment are horizontally arranged screens 26 spaced oneA above the other similar' to lower screens 'I and also adapted to carry layers of catalytic material.. A door 27 at the side of the gas compartment provides for removal of lthe gf', screens or change of the catalytic material.

It should be noted that this door as well as lower door 10 has its wall shaped to t in place and continue lthe inner wall of the cylinder F so that the gases will have to go through the screens and not around the edges. V

At the top of the gas compartment is a g c outlet delivering directly to a gasdistributing pipe9, or by way of a gas pump Z3, suitable piping and valves being supplied as indicated to` it is manifest that this compartment need not be directly on top as it is only a continuation of the generating or reaction chamber so as to gain the advantage of further time and exposure oi the gases to a catalyst.

In operation the screens are each covered with a layer of a catalytic material such as iron oxide, the heavy oil from the still is constantly ilowed in and out of pipes 35 and 8 respectively, the feeder is adjusted to continually drop the heavy constituents of the oil, mostly carbon, to the bottom where a blast of superheated steam at about M00D F. meets it with instant volatilization of its liquid constituents and reacting on the carbon to dissociate the steam.

The following approximate reactions occur:

Some of the H2 reacts with C to form CnHzn-i-Z series and other gases attendant/on water gas formation. f

(Without the use of acatalyst the approximate reaction would be, C+2H2O=2H2+CO232,650 B. t. u. and in which case the drop in temperature would make it preferable to restore this by applying additional heat to the chamber to avoid the entering of too much steam into the system).

The composite of gases released contain some of the 02H4 series and C2H2 series (due to some residual oil in the carbon and to partial hydrogenation) ,-CO, slight amount, free H2 from 20 to 30%, also some of the lighter members of the CnHzn+2 and CnHn-l-Z series.

By adding a promoting agent to the iron oxide, such as 2.5% of Cr203+0.5% of CeOz, the reaction will be accelerated about 700 times at a temperature around a thousand degrees F.

The continuous admission of the superheated steam at a. higher temperature and pressure than that maintained in the other parts of the contlnuous system of which this apparatus is a part, together with the expansion caused by the reactions above given yield ample pressure for forcing the produced gases back through p'pe 9 for recycling through the system to effect hydrogenation, but if desired, a gas pump Z3 may be turned into the line to boost the pressure or to inject additional hydrogen or other gases to the gas stream.

It is of course understood that the apparatus is all suitably 'packed with heat insulation as indicated at 37, also that various modifications may be made within the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

We claim:-

1`. Gas generating apparatus comprising an oilreceiving chamber provided with a conical bottom forming a settling and decanting tank, a revolvable feed control gate at the small end of said conical bottom adapted for feeding the carn bonaceous sludge from the oil in a measured flow, a reaction chamber into which said sludge is fed,

means for directing a blast of superheated steamupon the sludge for gasifying the same, and a pipe for taking off gas from the upper part of the reaction chamber.

2. Gas generating apparatus comprising an oilreceiving chamber provided with a conical bottom forming a settling and decanting tank, a revolvable feed control gate at the small end of said conical bottom adapted for feeding the carbonaceous sludge from the oil in a measured ow, a reaction chamber below said receiving chamber :into which said sludge is fed so as tofall to the lower part thereof, means for directing a blast of super-heated steam upon the sludge for gasir'ying the same, a screen positioned across the reaction chamber below the feed control gate adapted to hold a reaction promoting agent, and a pipe for taking o gas from the upper part of the reaction chamber. n

3. Gas generating apparatus comprising a reaction chamber, means for dropping carbonaceous sludge from above into the chamber, means for directing superheated steam into the sludge at the bottom of the chamber, a screen positioned across the reaction chamber through which the sludge must. fall adapted to hold a reaction promoting agent, and a pipe for taking off gas from the upper part of the chamber, after passing upwardly through said screen.

4. Gas generating apparatus comprising a reaction chamber, means for dropping carbonaceo'us sludge from above into the chamber, means for directing superheated steam into the sludge at the bottom of the chamber, a plurality of spaced screens positioned across the reaction chamber provided with a relatively large passageway other than the screen openings through which the sludge m`ust fall,`while the gases generated rise through the screen proper.

5. Gas generating apparatus comprising a reaction chamber adapted to hold oil sludge, a feeder for carbonaceous oil sludge at the upper part of the chamber comprisng a revolvable pocket wheel Adelivering successive pockets-ful of sludge to the chamber, a steam jet directed into the pockets as they come around arranged to .aid the sludge in falling from the pockets, and

means directing superheated steam into the sludge at the bottom of the chamber.

. MILON J. TRUMBLE.

WILLIAM L. SEELEY.

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